Job hunting is a test of organisation and persistence. Lose either and you’ll lose the race. The job market is more competitive than ever, with an average of 250 CVs received for each job position. You can never predict where or when your next dream vacancy will appear, so stop fantasising about desired results and instead devise practical steps to achieve them!

Being on time with applications is just as important as being suitable for a position. But how do you manage visiting so many job boards, job search engines, and the career sections on sites in as little time as possible?

With any task you want efficiently completed, you will need an organised checklist. But how do you perfectly lead your job search? Here are three useful tools to managing your vacancy hunt, and perhaps saving you time. Plus, all three of these apps are completely free, and can be used on both desktop and mobile devices!

1. Notational Velocity

Notational Velocity is an application that allows you to store and retrieves notes. What’s brilliant about this tool is that it’s a cloud-based note storage application, so you can instantly take your notes from the computer to your devices.

I use this app constantly to keep my notes organised and together. Beyond keeping track of your job search ideas, if ideas strike you at awkward moments on-the-go, Notational Velocity is the perfect app to type up some concepts quickly, ready for when you get home to your desktop. Also, notes work offline, and sync automatically when back online. Notational Velocity also works with useful note apps such as Evernote and Simplenote on iOS and Android.

2. Listango

Listango is a simple bookmarking tool that makes it easy to save, organise and share your favourite web pages. You can now also import all of your bookmarks from your favourite web browser to Listango. This means you can copy all of your bookmarks from your numerous web browsers and access them from any device anywhere, continuing your relentless job search. The website is pleasant to use, and there’s a Chrome extension app to quickly add bookmarks to your account.

If there’s an area in which Listango can improve, it’s the site not being mobile optimised. Hopefully soon they’ll release a mobile-optimised site, or even better a dedicated Android and iOS app.

3. Pocket

Pocket is a good application for saving things you want to view later. You can access Pocket on your computer, iOS or Android devices, even without an internet connection. Pocket allows you to save almost anything, including articles, links and videos. You can save directly from your browser or from apps like Twitter, Flipboard and Pulse.

While Pocket is a versatile application, I personally don’t find the interface for reading articles is as good as Instapaper, another ‘read later’ app that primarily focuses on a minimalist style for saving and reading articles.

Use these tools to not only Bookmark websites for companies you’re interested in, but to keep your notes and important bookmarks in sync. Stay organised by using these cloud-based apps to their full advantage!